Felt boot and method of manufacturing the same.



PATENTED JULY 9, 1907.

W. H. SHULTZ. FELT BOOT AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 9, 1906. I

cums PETERS cu. wAsumpmn, n. c.

WILLIAM H. SHULTZ, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

FELT BOOT AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING- THE SAME.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 9, 1907.

Application filed June 9,1906. Serial No. 321,000.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, \VILLIAM H. SHULTZ, a citizen of the United States,residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Felt Boots andMethods of Manufacturing the Same; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a fllu, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same.

My invention relates to improvements in methods of manufacturing feltboots and more particularly to making the style of boots known as thebellows front and its object is to provide improved means of producingsuch boots, as will hereafter more fully appear by reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which;

Figure 1. is a plan view of the bats assembled ready for felting; Fig.2. a plan view of the small bat for forming the gusset or bellowsportion; Fig. 3. an edge view of the parts shown in Fig. 1.; and, Fig.4. a detail showing the leg of a finished boot.

Like numbers refer to like parts in all of the figures.

1 represents the bat which ultimately forms the boot proper; 2 a smallerand thinner bat of convenient dimensions to form the gusset or bellowsportion of the finished article. This bat 2 is folded around a piece ofnon-felting material 3 preferably of 'a close woven fabric, which latteris somewhat shorter than the bat 2 whereby the inner end of said batwill be folded in contact with itself and thus closed at the lower endby the felting operation.

4, 4 represent strips of similar non-felting material spaced apart andplaced between the folded portions of the bat 2 and the bat 1, wherebythe adjacent edges 5 only of the bat 2 are permitted to come in contactwith the bat 1 These strips 4 do not extend fully to the inner or narrowend of the bat 2 and thus this end is permitted to contact the bat 1.

When assembled in the described manner as indicated in Figs. 1 and 3,the bats are subjected to the felting process, which permanently unitesthe edges 5 and the lower end of the bat 2 to the middle portion of thebat 1. The latter is then formed up and joined at the edges in the usualway to complete the structure. After the same is properly treed intofinal shape, it is severed Vertically at the front upper portion of theleg along the middle of the strip where the bats have been united, asindicated at Fig. 4. The gusset or bellows 2 is thus integrally joinedto the boot with its edges connected to the severed edges of the legwhich present opposing thickened edges, whereby it is strengthened andrendered more substantial for the insertion of lacings or otherfastenings.

What I claim is:

1. The method of forming a felt boot having a bellows front consistingof preparing a bat to form the boot, and a smaller bat to form thebellows or gusset, placing nonfelting material between portions of thebats, joining the 'bats integrally where they are in contact by feltingthe same, and severing the same vertically, on a line through theportions so joined.

2. The method of forming a felt boot having a bellows front consistingof preparing a bat to form the boot proper, and a smaller and thinnerbat to form the bellows or gusset, folding the latter around a piece ofnonfelting material, with the edges of the bat adjacent to each other,placing the bats one upon the other, and placing between the same stripsof non-felting material spaced apart to permit portions only of the batto come in contact, joining the bats integrally where they come incontact by felting the same, forming and treeing the boot, and severingthe leg of the boot on a line through the integrally joined portions ofthe leg and bellows portions.

3. A felt boot, comprising a leg portion severed vertically, and abellows portion folded at its respective vertical edges and integrallyjoined atits folded edges' to the severed edges of the leg portion byfelting the same.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM H. SI-IULTZ.

Witnesses PALMER A. Jones, LUTHER V. MoULroN.

